ok u know by now i have been trying to unbolt this bell housing from the motor for 3 daz and i just heard today that i can leave the bell housing on and just undo the rear of the tranny and pull the motor and bell housing all at once? can i do that on a 1997 3.8 automatic tranny? and if so is the anything i should watch out for? or just unbolt it and pull off? thnx in advance for ANY AND ALL HELP. BB

 

No, thats just T5's. You'll need a good 1/2" drive impact gun to get the bellhousing bolts off.

 

but how i cant even get a 3/8 in there? if u do it from up top u just have enough room for a 3/8 ratchet and short socket then u cant get no leverage,if i use an extension i can get to the top bolts from underneath? any help if i could get something to it i could loosen but like i said from the top no leverage from the bottom cant get on? thnx

 

Well I use Flex Impact sockets and a long extension, but you could try a couple extensions with a universal joint.

 

i tried extensions and a univ joint i couldnt get enough leverage to break em loose on the ones i could reach and i still cant get to the very top ones,anyway i`ll keep u informed we`ll see what this mech can do tomorrow

 

read my last post to your same question in the v6 section

 

wait, are you taking the motor out or the tranny? if you need the motor out just leave the tranny attached. undo the drive shaft and unbolt it from the transmission cross member. why do you want to seperate them before you took it out? if you just need the transmission out then yea, but seems it would be easier to pull them both at the same time if the motor is what you want out

 

lol yes im pulling the whole motor out and i thought(remember i havent done before) that it would be easier and was suppose to just seperate them?

 

alright lets do it this way? can i pull the whole motor tranny and all out without taking off the front of the engine i.e ps/pump,alt,pulleys and so on? and if so then where should i bolt the lifting chain? cause im pulling this by myself so i`ll need to kno xactly what to do,seems to me it would be to hard to lift,tilt and so on? thnx for the diy version bb

 

well it doesn't take much to guide the transmission out of the way once you start pulling it out. hopefully you have the hood all the way off and out of the way. i haven't taken my 3.8 out so as far as actual locations to attach a chain i can't help. but seems like pulling the upper intake off and using two holes somewhere on that area would work. just get a long enough bolt to get some good threading in there and a chain with large enough links that the bolt will fit through it. use a nice big washer under the bolt heads that has absolutely no chance of slippin through the chain link. take two bolts and run a small chain across your two points then use your hook or whatever you are using to grab the chain and lift. make sure your wires are unplugged from the firewall, driveshaft is off the end of the transmission and your cross-member is detached and not going to be holding anything up. then once your engine is supported by the cherry picker or whatever you are using remove the engine mount bolts and start pulling. when you start lifting, the weight of the transmission will automatically tilt it downward. it would help to have a extra set of hands just to hold and guide the transmission on it's way out.

and no you shouldn't have to remove any pulleys or anything off the front of the motor. maybe removing the radiator will give you a little more room but i don't know if it is necessary

 

well i appreciate the step by step,im going to try and attempt it thursday or friday,got my nephew coming over to help will let u kno the results this wknd i hope,thnx alot bb

 

hey guys just letting u kno finally got my motor and tranny pulled yesterday at the same time and put the tranny on the new motor,will take a few daz and do the oil change,plugs wires and so on before i put back in,also i did go ahead and put in new rear seal and drained the torque convertor and put new fluid in that,so after i clean it and put all the stuff on and a little paint i should be ready to put back in next week,thnx for all ur help and comments will keep u informed